


Words Can't Never Hurt Me

by shibboleth



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-13
Updated: 2010-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-11 17:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/115239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shibboleth/pseuds/shibboleth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David asks Jack to tell the truth, for once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words Can't Never Hurt Me

“Hey, Jack?”

David’s walking behind him when he says it, which means he won’t see the way Jack cringes. It’s because of his tone, the hesitant way he’s asking, when it’s _David_ , who’s not afraid to say nothing to nobody, not anymore. 

Jack stops walking, he licks his lips and runs a hand through his hair and turns around. “Yeah, Dave?”

“Is your name really Francis?” 

Jack sighs.

The streets of New York are loud, just like every other day, and what with the two of them just standing around and shooting the breeze, the rest of the city moves around them. The crowd jostles them as it passes but Davey, he’s still waiting for an answer, looking up at if like they both don’t know it already.

Jack shrugs. “So what if it is?”

“Francis  _Sullivan_?”

“Don’t act like you ain’t heard it already.”

David glances out toward the street, awkward-like. “I’d like to hear it from you.”

“Oh, so you wanna hear it from  _me_.” Jack waves him off, turns on his heel and starts walking again, but not quick enough to avoid hearing the sputtering behind him. Not even the passing carriages can drown it out.

“Jack,  _wait_.”

Jack can’t hear David’s footsteps, but he knows he’s right behind him.

“I didn’t want to  _upset_  you, I just—”

He jerks around so fast David runs right into him. They both stumble, David’s feet get tangled up and Jack’s got him by the arm without even thinking about it. He sets his friend right and then he lets him go, taking a step back.

“Jack…”

“You keep on callin’ me that,” Jack says. “So what’s it you wanna hear from me, Davey? That I’m a liar?”

“I didn’t—”

“Extra, extra!” He doesn't keep his voice down, he walks in a circle and gestures like he’s got a stack of papes on his shoulder. Some of the passerby pause to stare, Jack ignores them to step forward and get in David’s face. “Jack Kelly’s habit of improvin’ the truth? That  _ain’t_  a headline, and there ain’t a writer on the World’s staff could make it anythin’  _but_  old news.”

David looks down at the ground, then back up again. “I just think it’s kind of a funny name, that’s all.” The corners of his lips are twitching.

Jack stares at him in astonishment. “Are you makin’  _fun_  of me, now, Dave?”

“You won’t tell me. Am I?”

Jack rolls his eyes and turns away again, and this time David falls into step beside him. “I could call you Frankie.”

“Not if you wanna keep on walkin’.”

David falls silent for a long moment, long enough to make Jack look sideways at him, only to find his face all kinds of serious. When he speaks, his voice is grim. “Well, that’s new.”

“What’s new?”

“Threatening me.”

It makes Jack feel far more defensive than it ought to. “It’s a joke.”

“It’s still new.”

Jack groans out loud. “Look, Dave, call me Francis. I’ll hate it and I won’t know who you’re talkin’ to half the time, but if it means that much to ya—”

“I won’t.” He scratches the back of his head. “I’m only asking because—”

“Yeah, I know.” The silence drags out, and Jack knows it’s up to him to break it. He thinks about his words before he says them, changes his mind twice before he comes up with something. “Whatever you wanna ask, go ahead and ask. Maybe I won’t answer, but ‘least I won’t lie.”

They keep walking. Then, “Ma wants you over for dinner. Are you busy, tonight?”

The grin comes as a surprise and it crosses Jack’s face before he can stop it, not that he wants to. He claps David on the arrm, then he changes his mind and tosses his whole arm around his shoulders. “Matter of fact? I’m not.”


End file.
